


Morality Struggles

by birdybirdnerd



Series: A Hundred Continuities [4]
Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types, Pendragon - D. J. MacHale
Genre: Brothels, Fluff, Humor, M/M, Romance, chasing across rooftops is totally romantic right
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-07-23
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:33:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/birdybirdnerd/pseuds/birdybirdnerd
Summary: Bobby faces a decision, and someone familiar.





	Morality Struggles

**Author's Note:**

> i decided to continue this rather than starting a new chapter bc whyyyyyy the fuck not. may have more chapters in the future, may not, honestly who knows at this point

Bobby shouldered his way through the crowd, ever vigilant as he slipped through seamlessly, unseen. He pulled his white hood further over his eyes, making sure his face was always hidden from the watchful eyes of the guards. He was known here, and didn’t wish to be seen before his errand was complete.

Sliding through the glass doors of the brothel, he breathed a sigh of relief, finally out from under the hot sun. Even though it was stuffy inside the crowded lobby, it was several degrees cooler, and without suffocating eyes on his back. It was much better, in his opinion.

Bobby didn’t step inside whorehouses often, but this particular one was of exception. As he went forward through the throng of ladies who waved politely at him, recognizing him for who he was, he caught sight of the reason he was here and the reason he kept returning.

Elli Winter was an older lady, the mistress of the place who ran things and kept the patrons sated and friendly, and had been a good friend of Bobby’s since he was an initiate of the Creed. She was a kindly old woman, motherly, and always had a thing or two to teach him every time he stopped by. She was also an ex-Assassin, but after a mission gone wrong left her with a bad limp and a hearing impediment, she retired to run the city’s most profitable brothel with her daughter.

She was, personally, Bobby’s favorite out of all his mentors. And he had a message for her, which was what brought him to her little corner of their fair city.

She saw him soon after he called her name, leaning against the banister of the second floor. “Bobby!” she exclaimed, stepping away from the rail and walking towards him. “Give these old bones a minute and I’ll be down there, hold on.”

“No need, Madame,” Bobby laughed, hopping up the stairs and steadying her with a hand on her upper arm. “I come with a message from Press. There is to be nobles with valuable information coming to the city next week, and he wanted to see if your girls were willing to get that information for him. Here’s the note.” He fished it out of his pocket and discreetly slid it to her.

She took it, eyes scanning it in a moment, and tucked it into her pocket. “Thank you, dear. How has Press been, after all? I haven’t heard personally from him since that incident with-”

“With Spader, yeah, I remember.” Bobby grimaced. “I heard the guards finally let him be, and he’s to be returning to us soon.”

“It only took them three months,” Elli grumbled good-naturedly.

Bobby chuckled. “Well, that’s all I came for, so I best be off. Tell Nevva I said hi, would you?”

“Of course, dearie. Good-bye!”

Bobby turned to leave, and his eyes alighted on the last person he expected to see here. Or see again, period.

He choked. “Dane?!”

Dane’s eyes shot up, across the floor, and his already pale face paled further. He dropped the book he was holding and disappeared, though Bobby knew he was headed for the door.

“Sorry Elli, I have to go. I’ll see you.”

She waved confusedly as he leapt over the banister, landing with a roll on the floor below and shooting to his feet. He made a beeline for the door, shouldering friendly girls out of the way as gently but quickly as possible. He needed to catch up with that man and ask what he was doing here, _again._ And maybe wring his neck in a totally non-sexual way.

He hadn’t stopped thinking of the mysterious man since their meeting a couple months ago. Brief, heated, and confusing, it had left Bobby in quite the state. He’d had to lie to his uncle and say the man had gotten away before he could do anything, but they had agreed that after the attempt on his life he would flee the country and they would worry about him another day. Apparently that day was today, though Bobby was worrying about him in a completely different way. A ‘does his mouth still taste like cinnamon’ kind of way.

Pushing his way out the door into the suffocating heat of the sun, he glanced around, half expecting to have lost the man. He was surprised to see him standing a ways down the street, staring directly at him. Something flashed in Dane’s eyes, and he was off again, dashing down the street and towards a stack of boxes, intent clearly to scale them and then the building.

So it was a chase he wanted then. Bobby would give him a chase.

He bolted after the man, ignoring the angry shouts of the townspeople he pushed past, vision tunneling until he saw nothing but the dark robes of the man he’d been lusting after for months whipping in the wind as he climbed. Bobby made it to the bottom of the stack of boxes just as Dane made it to the top of the building and disappeared over the edge. Bobby didn’t worry, as the other man was clearly leading him on and wouldn’t actually lose him. He hoped.

Hauling himself over the edge of the stonework, Bobby looked around until he caught sight of Dane again, waiting patiently behind a chimney on the next building over. Bobby smirked and stood, giving a cocky wave. Dane snorted, tossing his head, and took off again. Bobby followed.

Their chase this time led them across the city towards the waterfront. The sun was beginning to set, painting the water a beautiful shade of orange on the horizon and the sky a deep pink. Bobby took a moment to take it all in; the sight before him, the blood pumping through his veins, the sting of the wind in his face. This was what freedom felt like. This was what it felt like to be an eagle. This was what the Creed was for; protecting this feeling in all.

Bobby shook himself out of his reverie as he realized he’d been slowing. Dane had pulled ahead and clearly noticed something was up. Up ahead, he stopped, turning, and tilted his head curiously at Bobby, who raised a hand in acknowledgement and sped up again.

He soon caught up to the man, who hadn’t continued running after he stopped. Dane was breathing heavily, eyes closed as he let the salty sea breeze assault him. He stood at the edge of the building, teetering over the edge it seemed, but Bobby knew better than most that the man was totally in control and wouldn’t fall unless he wanted to.

Or unless someone pushed him.

Smirking again, Bobby reached up to do just that, but Dane was faster. Spinning around, Bobby found himself with a blade to his throat and a cocky ex-Assassin inches from his face. He backed up instinctively, but discovered he’d made the mistake of putting his back to the chimney and was now trapped.

He smiled innocently at Dane. “Long time no see.”

A flash of mischievous blue eyes was all Bobby saw before Dane had dropped his blade and was pressing a kiss to Bobby’s lips. Bobby barely had time to get into it before Dane was pulling away, that ever present smirk decorating his pretty mouth.

Bobby’s eyes flashed back to Dane’s own and he grinned. “Miss me much?”

“Oh you have no idea,” Dane chuckled. He swooped in and pressed another chaste kiss to Bobby’s lips, then let him go. He dusted off his robes and gestured for Bobby to sit, dropping himself down on the edge of the roof. Bobby seated himself down next to Dane and stared out over the water.

“It really is quite beautiful,” Bobby said, dodging the question he knew was coming.

It didn’t come for a minute, Dane simply nodding silently. Bobby snaked his hand over Dane’s, intertwining their fingers without a word. The other man glanced down at their hands before looking back at the sea and sighing.

“What are we?” Dane asked.

Bobby didn’t answer immediately, instead squeezing Dane’s hand. He turned to look at the man, seeing he was looking back with faraway eyes. He focused on Bobby and raised an eyebrow. Bobby shook his head.

“I don’t know.”

Dane looked back at the water, silent as ever. Bobby followed his gaze, watching as the sun set, throwing fiery streaks across the choppy wind-tossed waters and clear sky. A crew of men was mooring a ship down below, singing a sea chanty as they did to pass the time. They tossed ropes and tied them off, shouting commands across the deck and hauling supplies towards the bridge down to the ground. A sailor broke off from the rest and ran down the bridge, running into the waiting arms of a child and woman. They embraced, the happy family, and talked. Bobby couldn’t hear them from up there, but he saw the smiles on their faces clear as day. He sighed.

“We can’t keep doing this,” Dane said softly. “We can’t keep meeting up, what with us on different sides and all. I would love to, but unless one of us changes our minds, it won’t work out in the long run. And not to mention what the other Assassins would do when they found out”

Bobby knew this, and he hated it. “Do we have to tell anyone though? What if we just kept it a secret?”

“Secrets don’t work out with the Assassins, Bobby. They are always found out.” Dane glanced down at their hands, then took his away and stood. “We would be discovered quickly, and the repercussions would be terrible. They would hunt me down immediately for daring to ‘corrupt’ one of their own, and you would no doubt be expelled from their ranks for associating with who they consider a Templar, even if I don’t consider the title accurate.” He sighed, a mirror to Bobby’s own. “It is not worth it, to ruin your life for… this.”

“But what if it is?” Bobby asked. “What if I think it is? No one has made me feel this much since Courtney, and I had to leave her forever when I joined the Assassins. She is far away now, with a husband and children, and out of my life. But since her, I have felt- well, empty.” He stepped forward and took Dane’s hands in his own, fingering the area where his right ring finger used to be. “You make me _feel,_ Dane. And that is something I am not willing to give up.”

Dane caught his breath and turned away, though he didn’t let go of Bobby’s hands. Something danced in his eyes, but not for long before a determined glint took over. “No,” he said. “No, I am not ruining your life. It may be painful, but I am not doing this to you. I-” he choked. “I care, too much to do that to you. I’ve never cared for someone, and though it kills me to do so, I cannot take this life from you.”

Bobby felt something inside him crack. He hurled himself into Dane’s arms, pressing their cheeks together before burying his face in Dane’s neck, arms tight around his middle. “I don’t care, I don’t fucking care. You mean too much to me, more than this stupid assassin business. It’s all stuffy and strict, and you make me feel _free_. Running with you, chasing you down, hell even just kissing you releases something inside me that I’ve never felt before, and I don’t wanna give that up either. So I’m not, and you’re gonna have to deal.”

Dane scoffed and tried to pull away, though he didn’t get very far. “You are being an imbecile, giving up the thing you were born into for some silly crush. You cannot do this, I refuse to let you!”

“Nope, not letting you go.” Bobby said, holding Dane’s middle tighter.”

“But-” Dane protested.

“Nuh-uh. You’re gonna have to pry me off with your knife if you want me to let go, and I don’t think you wanna hurt me that badly.”

“Are you sure?”

Cold metal pressed into Bobby’s neck, but he didn’t so much as flinch. Instead he tilted his head up to meet Dane’s eye and huffed. “Seriously?”

Dane shrugged, the motion dragging the knife along Bobby’s skin a little, breaking skin but not enough to make him bleed. Bobby hissed at the sensation, like a line of fire on his throat, and mock glared at Dane. _“Seriously?”_

The other man chuckled and sheathed his hidden blade, instead pulling Bobby close until their foreheads touched. “I loathe to do this, but it seems we are at an impasse. You will not bend in your ways, nor I in mine. I fear for what we should do.”

“You don’t sound very afraid,” Bobby mumbled, burying his face in Dane’s shoulder again and nuzzling his neck. Hands settled around his waist, pulling him closer until they were chest to chest.

Dane hummed, which made Bobby snicker. “You’re not scared at all, are you? You know exactly what we’ll do, and it’s what we’ve been doing this whole time.”

“And what, pray tell, is that?” Dane asked. “Ignoring each other for months and tackling each other the first time we meet again?”

“Exactly.”

Dane laughed out loud at this, which made Bobby laugh harder, which started them on a cycle of laughter that had them in stitches in no time. Bobby clung to the ex-Assassin as he giggled, not realizing when they had fallen over onto the hard stone of the roof. The cold material dug into his shoulder, but it was worth it to see Dane so riled up like this, completely lost within himself. It was glorious.

They calmed down after a moment and lay there, essentially cuddling and watching the sky change colors and darken above them. It was turning a lovely shade of purple now, and as they watched the horizon opposite the sea was turning black.

“Beautiful,” Dane whispered.

Bobby turned to smile at him, only to realize Dane was looking at him when he said that.

“Cut the cute shit,” Bobby laughed, shoving Dane’s arm before settling more snugly into his side. He debated sitting up to dislodge and take off his Assassin armor, as it was digging into his side, but he didn’t want to get up long enough to do that. He decided to put up with the discomfort to be with Dane, as he put up with a lot of things now to be with Dane. Speaking of…

“Are we together now?” Bobby asked softly.

Dane was silent a moment, then nodded.

That was all Bobby needed. He snuggled back into Dane’s side and watched the sunset.

They had a lot of secrets to keep, and only time would bring on more. But for now, they laid together, and watched the sun fall on yet another day.


End file.
